Looking for a way to up the WOW factor when decorating your holiday baking? These Sugared Cranberries are so simple to make and will look beautiful on your holiday desserts.
They also make a surprisingly good snack with a delightful pop of sweet tartness!
How to Make Sugared Cranberries
Ingredients needed:
- 3 oz of fresh cranberries
- ½ c white granulated sugar
- ½ c orange juice
- Extra sugar for rolling the cranberries in
Please note: This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled if you want to make more sugared cranberries. They will keep 2 to 3 days in a covered container in the fridge.
1. Add the sugar and orange juice to a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil and cook just until the sugar has completely dissolved. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for about 30 minutes.
Essentially what you’re doing is making simple syrup which is often used to sweeten cocktails, iced tea or coffee and other cold drinks but substituting an equal amount of orange juice for the water.
You could in fact, make the sugared cranberries using simple syrup but I wanted to be able to use the leftover syrup to drizzle over other desserts such as slices of my Cranberry Coffee Cake or scoops of ice cream and I love the color the orange syrup takes on after the cranberries have soaked in it.
2. Once the syrup has cooled, place the cranberries in a shallow dish and pour the syrup over top of them. Stir so that the cranberries are coated.
At this point, you could move on to step 6, but as I mentioned earlier, I wanted that pretty orange syrup to use with other desserts.
3. You may have noticed in the photo above that the cranberries are floating on top of the syrup. We don’t want that. We want them completely covered in the syrup, so we’re going to weigh them down.
Start by covering the cranberries with a piece of waxed paper.
4. Scoop several handfuls of dried beans over the waxed paper.
This side view shows you how the beans keep the cranberries from floating to the top.
5. Leave them sit on the counter overnight to allow the cranberries to take on a bit of the orange flavor and for some of the red in the cranberries to deepen the color of the orange syrup.
6. The next day, carefully transfer the waxed paper with the dried beans to a tray. As long as you’re careful not to spill the beans, you can return them to their container and use them in a recipe.
Use a slotted spoon to remove the cranberries from the orange syrup and drain them on a fine mesh rack.
I used one of the drying racks from my dehydrator.
7. Pour the syrup into a small pitcher or glass jar.
8. Allow the cranberries to dry for about an hour. By that time, they’ll be sticky but will no longer be wet.
9. Add the extra sugar to a pie pan or shallow sided plate. Roll the cranberries in the sugar a few at a time until they are coated and sparkly.
Don’t they look pretty!!
For a super easy holiday dessert, pour the orange syrup over scoops of vanilla ice cream.
Then top each dish with a few of the sugared cranberries.
Here I’ve served them with ice cream and a slice of my Cranberry Coffee Cake.
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How to Make Sugared Cranberries
Sugar cranberries are the perfect garnish to add that WOW factor to your holiday desserts. They also make a nice snack with just the right combination of sweet and tart.
Ingredients
- 3 oz of fresh cranberries
- ½ c white granulated sugar
- ½ c orange juice
Instructions
1. Add the sugar and orange juice to a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil and cook just until the sugar has completely dissolved. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for about 30 minutes.
2. Once the syrup has cooled, place the cranberries in a shallow dish and pour the syrup over top of them. Stir so that the cranberries are coated.
3. Cover the cranberries with waxed paper.
4. Weigh down the waxed paper with 3 cups of dried beans. (This keeps the cranberries from floating and not getting thoroughly coated with the syrup.
5. Let the cranberries sit on the counter overnight.
6. The next day, lift off the waxed paper and dried beans.
7. Using a slotted spoon remove the cranberries to a drying rack and allow to dry for about an hour. They should be sticky but not wet.
8. Roll the sticky cranberries in sugar.
9. Use them to garnish your holiday desserts or as snacks.
Notes
Store any unused sugared cranberries in the fridge in a lightly covered container for 2 to 3 days.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
10Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 48Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 0mgCarbohydrates: 12gFiber: 0gSugar: 11gProtein: 0g
Please note that these are only approximate nutritional information. If you require more accurate quantities, please be sure to make the calculations for yourself.
